MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Utilities Commission is asking for public input on proposed changes to the city’s stormwater regulations.
The major change involves Section 6.1, which relates to private stormwater management facilities (SMF). The proposed changes allow a developer or 50% of the subdivision’s residents to ask the city to operate the SMF.
Under the current code, the city can take over management of a private SMF if the owners fail to properly maintain and operate the SMF.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio EPA require subdivisions to have a stormwater system that reduces runoff to pre-development condition. These systems, which are also called stormwater management facilities, include retention ponds (permanent pool of water), detention (dry) ponds, ditches, culverts, wetlands, catch basins, and other elements to control run-off.
At a special meeting of the utilities commission last week, City Engineer Brian Ball said that, over time, the EPA has tightened stormwater rules.
“Many of the subdivisions have had a difficult time maintaining these areas because it’s outside of their normal expertise,” he said.
The EPA mandates the city to inspect private SMFs once every five years. The city will send violation letters and issue fines for areas that are non-compliant.
Ball said the city has not had the staffing to do the inspections as mandated.
“We are in year two of our permit, and we have probably inspected 1% of those. So at some point, the EPA will come after us for not getting our work done, and we will be forced to go after the subdivision who has failed to maintain their facilities,” he said.
That process is what Ball calls the regulatory approach.
“The regulations only approach is not very friendly to the citizens,” Law Director Rob Broeren said.
Citing an emergency washout as an example, Broeren said the city would notify subdivision residents of the remedy.
“Under this rule, we can go in and fix it and bill the residents. The residents then have 10 days to pay in full,” he said. “None of feel that is the correct approach.”
Ball said some subdivisions, commercial, and industrial sites are doing a great job and maintaining their facilities without significant problem.
“We’re looking to focus on subsets of residential and nonresidential where there is a private facility for stormwater that is not being maintained,” he said. “We are looking to give our citizens an added alternative to become part of a program where, for a fee, the city will manage these facilities.”
A developer can opt into the program from the beginning. That is the case with Gilchrist Estates.
Schlabach Builders has asked the city to take over the stormwater system along with the water and sewer lines and streets. Each property owner will pay a fee for the city to manage the SMF.
“There will be a fee structure agreed to and set up before the first home is sold, so everyone would know what they are buying into,” Ball said. “They would essentially be buying into a city-managed stormwater district.”
Subdivision residents would pay the surcharge until the subdivision petitions the city to opt out of city management. If a subdivision opts out, subdivision property owners will take over the cost of maintenance, repairs, and operations.
Mount Vernon City Council will have to approve the fee schedule.
“We are creating this [option] at the request of the citizens. Several citizens have come to the administration and asked for the program,” Ball said, adding that it is attractive to residents because the city has the skill set, trained staff, and billing capabilities already in place.
“In a lot of ways, I think this is more economical than each subdivision hiring a contractor to make small repairs and adjustments whereas we have the staff,” he continued. “Or if we are hiring a stormwater consultant for the street department, that contractor can maintain multiple facilities with one-trip fees.”
Stormwater facilities are required to support themselves. The surcharge residents pay will go into a specific account for that subdivision. City departments will track activities and then bill the individual SMF for the cost.
For example, if the city spends two hours mowing an SMF, the city will bill the SMF for two hours of time. Similarly, the time spent by city employees repairing a catch basin will be billed to the SMF.
Regulations require an SMF to have a certain amount of cash on deposit. Depending on timing and circumstances, that deposit might not be enough. An additional benefit to the subdivision residents of city SMF management is the ability to borrow from the city’s stormwater utility.
“We don’t want to bill just to stockpile cash,” Ball said. “What we’d like to do is allow the stormwater utility to loan to the private SMF so that if there’s an emergency, we wouldn’t have to just jack up the rate really high to try and come up with an emergency fund.”
The private SMF would then repay the utility with interest.
Ex-officio commission member Tammy Woods, who represents the third ward on city council and chairs the Utilities Committee, questioned whether public stormwater money will be used for private SMFs.
“There will be no public money used for these private stormwater systems,” Broeren replied.
Stormwater rules are posted on the city’s website under the utilities/stormwater tab. Residents have until May 11 to comment.
Email comments to eng4@mountvernonohio.org or drop them off at the engineering department office at 40 Public Square. For more information about the review process call 740-393-9528.
